Card Dealing Machine

ABSTRACT

A card dealing machine with an oscillating arm that includes a receiver or shoe that has four slots therein. The arm&#39;s oscillating motion is stopped once per rotation to align the appropriate slot with an exit slit where a card comes out. The location that the arm is stopped depends on a value read by an optical card reader, where the card value is associated with a pre-determined hand that corresponds to the appropriate slot. The oscillating motion is repeated until all 52 cards in the deck are dealt. Errors or warnings are issued if more or less than 52 cards are read or if duplicate cards are read.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a device and method for automatically dealing playing cards. More particularly, the invention relates to dealing cards in pre-determined combinations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Card games involve a combination of luck and skill. The luck is largely dependent on what cards are dealt in each hand and the player's skill often determines the outcome based on how the hand is played. In tournament play, there are typically multiple tables initially where the winner or top placers among the table move on to further rounds as the tables consolidate.

Duplicate bridge is a widely used variation of contract bridge in club and tournament play. Duplicate bridge uses identical combinations of cards among the different tables in order to remove the element of luck in random dealing from a shuffled deck.

Outside tournament play, it may be desirable to play hands that masters or professionals were dealt in famous tournaments in order to allow the players to test their skill against these masters.

Some solutions have been developed to deal cards in four pre-determined hands. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,334 uses a combination of perforations on cards and pins, but since the pins are visible to all players, it may be possible for one player to determine which cards other players have, which provides an unfair advantage.

As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,562 uses binary code marked cards which are read by a reader and directed to different slots based on the card that was read, but the mechanisms used result in a rather large, cumbersome and expensive machine.

Other card machines have been developed to randomly shuffle one or more decks of playing cards. For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,154 discloses a card shuffling machine. These machines provide random card arrangements, typically in casinos. This can make it more difficult for players to use card counting or other techniques in games such as black jack to gain an advantage on over the “house”. The goal of these types of machines is to provide random dealing whereas the present device is directed towards dealing pre-determined hands.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a simple, compact and inexpensive card dealing machine that is suitable for both tournament, club and home bridge play.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine that enables dealing of pre-determined hands either selected via an interface on the machine or via a network or a wireless connection.

These and other objects are achieved by providing a card dealing machine with an oscillating arm that includes a receiver or shoe that has four slots therein. The arm's oscillating motion is stopped once per rotation to align the appropriate slot with an exit slit where a card comes out. The location that the arm is stopped depends on a value read by an optical card reader, where the card value is associated with a pre-determined hand that corresponds to the appropriate slot. The oscillating motion is repeated until all 52 cards in the deck are dealt. Errors or warnings are issued if more or less than 52 cards are read or if duplicate cards are read.

The terms “coupled”, “coupled to”, “coupled with”, “connected”, “connected to”, and “connected with” as used herein each mean a relationship between or among two or more devices, apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, and/or means, constituting any one or more of (a) a connection, whether direct or through one or more other devices, apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, (b) a communications relationship, whether direct or through one or more other devices, apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, and/or (c) a functional relationship in which the operation of any one or more devices, apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means depends, in whole or in part, on the operation of any one or more others thereof.

The terms “first”, “second” etc. are used to distinguish one element, set, data, object or thing from another, and are not used to designate relative position or arrangement in time.

In one aspect, a card dealing machine for dealing a pre-determined game hand includes a reader configured to read a deck of cards to determine a value of each card. The machine has an arm and a drive moving the arm in an oscillating motion. A receiver is positioned on the arm and includes at least a first destination. A mover is configured to move a first one of the plurality of cards to the receiver. A stop mechanism is in communication with the reader such that when the first one of the plurality of cards is associated with the pre-determined game hand corresponding to the first destination, the stop mechanism stops movement of the arm during the oscillating motion to align the first destination to receive the first one of the plurality of cards from the mover.

In one embodiment, the receiver includes a second, third and fourth destination and the stop mechanism includes a plurality of stops comprising a first, second, third and fourth stop respectively corresponding to the first, second, third and fourth destinations. One of the plurality of stops is selectively engaged for each oscillation of the oscillating motion based on a value read by the reader corresponding to a next one of the plurality of cards.

In one embodiment a processor is in communication with the reader and the stop mechanism, the processor transmits a signal to the stop mechanism to engage one of the stops that is associated with the first destination. In one embodiment, the stop mechanism includes at least one stop activated by a solenoid.

In one embodiment a processor is in communication with the reader and the stop mechanism. A fixed stop is configured as one of the stops of the stop mechanism and the first destination is associated with the fixed stop. The processor selects the fixed stop based on the value of the first one of the plurality of cards being associated with the first destination.

In one embodiment a computer is in communication with a storage and the processor, and the storage has data indicative of the pre-determined game hand stored thereon. The processor receives the data such that the card dealing machine is programmed to deal the pre-determined game hand associated with the data. The storage may include data indicative of a plurality of pre-determined game hands and the computer allows a user to select the pre-determined game hand from one of the plurality of pre-determined game hands.

In one embodiment the drive has a cam coupled thereto, so that the drive rotates the cam. A follower is connected to the arm, the follower contacts the cam such that rotation of the cam causes the oscillating motion. The stop may cause the follower and the cam to lose contact during part of one rotation of the cam.

In other aspects, a method of dealing a pre-determined set of four game hands is provided and includes one or more of the steps of (a) providing a deck of cards having a plurality of cards; (b) inserting the deck of cards into a holder of a card dealing machine; (c) activating the card dealing machine to successively read a value of the plurality cards using an optical reader; (d) stopping an oscillating arm of the card dealing machine at one of four locations based on the value read; (e) moving each of the plurality of cards with an oscillating mover into a receiver having four destinations such that a selected one of the four destinations corresponds to the one of four locations; and (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) for each successively read one of the plurality of cards to place at least one of the plurality of cards in each of the four destinations.

The method may include repeating of step (f) until each one of the plurality of cards is placed at one of the four destinations such that each destination contains an equal number of cards. The four destinations may each be separate slots on the receiver. The receiver may be removable from the oscillating arm. In some embodiments, the method includes stopping the repeating step if a value read is the same value as a previously read value and generating an alert indicative of a duplicate card having been read. The method may also include generating an alert if the plurality of cards total more or fewer than 52, or if the sum total of values (from 1 through 52) read differs from the sum of the integers 1-52, which can be calculated as (N(N+1))/2 or in the case of 52 cards, 1378. The card dealing machine may receive data indicative of the pre-determined set of four game hands; and the method may include programming a processor of the card dealing machine with the data such that the four game hands are respectively dealt in to the four destinations of the receiver.

In other aspects, a card dealing machine is provided for dealing a set of four pre-determined game hands. The card dealing machine includes a holder configured to receive a deck of cards including a plurality of cards. A receiver includes four destinations each one of the four destinations is associated with one of the four pre-determined game hands. A mover is configured to successively move one of the plurality of cards from the holder and into the receiver. A reader is positioned to successively read the plurality of cards to determine a value thereof. An arm has the receiver positioned thereon. A drive has a rotating component, the drive moves the arm in an oscillating motion. A processor is in communication with the reader and a stop mechanism, the processor is programmed to select one of four stops of the stop mechanism based on the value of each successively read one of the plurality of cards with each rotation of the rotating component.

In some embodiments, for each rotation of the rotating component, the selected one of the four stops halts movement of the arm to receive one of the plurality of cards in one of the four destinations based on which one of the four pre-determined game hands the one of the plurality of cards is associated with. At least one of the four stops may be activated by a solenoid. One of the four stops may be a fixed stop and three of the four stops are activated by solenoids such that when the fixed stop is selected, the solenoids are inactive. A slit may be located in the holder and is configured to receive one of the plurality of cards there through when moved by the mover to allow the one of the plurality of cards to exit the holder and be received by the receiver.

In some embodiments a port on the card dealing machine is configured to receive a memory device having data indicative of one or more of the pre-determined hands stored thereon such that upon connection of the memory device to the port, the processor is programmed to deal at least one of the one or more of the pre-determined hands. In one aspect, the interface of the card dealing machine allows for selection of sets of pre-determined game hands from the data stored on the memory device.

Other objects of the invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from consideration of the following drawings and accompanying detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is front cross section view along section line 1-1 of a card dealing machine

FIG. 2 is a top view of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of the card dealing machine of FIG.1

FIG. 5 is an example card used in the card dealing machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a detail section view of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the receiver of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 8-10 are side views showing movement of elements of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the card dealing machine of FIG. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding structure throughout the views. The following examples are presented to further illustrate and explain the present invention and should not be taken as limiting in any regard.

The card holder 1 holds at least one deck of cards 2 oriented face down on a reader 4. The deck of cards 2 is weighted by a weight 3 which pushes the cards close to the reader 4. The bottom of the card holder may be a glass or other transparent material to enable the reader 4 to optically read the value of each card. In other embodiments, the bottom of the card holder 1 may include holes positioned where card values can be read. The cards may include bar codes thereon that identify the card values. Alternately, ocular recognition software executing on the processor 110 of the card dealing machine (FIG. 11) can be used to determine what the value is for the bottom most card. The card “value” as referred to herein may include the type and suit of card, assuming the a standard deck of cards is used. For example, Ace (type) of hearts (suit) may be assigned a numerical value between 1 and 52 and the barcode on the Ace of hearts would allow the processor to determine the corresponding numerical value. In one example, values are assigned starting with the two (2) of clubs (value 1), two (2) of diamonds (value 2) etc. In this case all two (2) numbered cards would be within values 1-4, three (3) numbered cards would be within values 5-8, and so on through the deck. It is understood that this numbering system is purely exemplary and that any numbering system can be assigned that enables correlation of a numerical value with a card type (number, or jack-ace) and suit (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds). It is also understood that the value can refer to the type and suit as read by the reader and recognized by software that can distinguish the number/jack-ace and suit via character or image recognition.

The processor of the card dealing machine is programmed with pre-determined hands for the game to be played. In a game of bridge, four hands are dealt with thirteen cards each. As each card is read, the processor determines which of the stops 16, 17, 18, 19 of the stop mechanism 114 are to be selected. In the example above where each card is assigned a numerical value 1-52, each pre-determined hand could include a listing of 13 numerical values, with each numerical value corresponding to a particular card type and suit. As each barcode is read, the numerical value is determined and the appropriate destination is selected as further described herein.

The receiver 6 is positioned on an arm 14 which includes a follower 13 mounted thereon. As shown, the follower 13 is configured as a wheel rotating on a shaft, with the shaft mounted to the arm 14. Wheel 9 is driven by motor 8. This wheel 9 includes a cam 12 thereon and this cam 12 and the follower 13 are in contact such that the arm 14 follows an oscillating motion.

On one end of the arm is pivot 15 which the arm rotates around. On the end opposite of the pivot 15 is the holder 7 which holds the receiver 6 such that the receiver 6 can be removed. The arm includes a protrusion 30 that extends below the holder 7. The holder 7 may include a spring, clip or other securing device that holds the receiver 6 in place. The pivot 15 may include a spring that pushes the arm clockwise to ensure that proper alignment and contact with the follower 13 or the selected stop 16-19 is maintained. The spring is strong enough to hold the arm down but weak enough to allow the motor to move the arm 14 in the oscillating motion.

Rod 10 is connected to the wheel 9 at one end and cross bar 20 at the other end. A card mover (e.g. an edge pusher) 20A is mounted onto the middle of the cross bar, and a reader 4 is mounted onto the distal end of the cross bar and aligned to read the code of the bottom car through elongated opening 21. As the wheel rotates, the cross bar moves back and forth to move the bottom card from the card holder 1 and out exit slit 5. As the card moves out of the exit slit, it falls into one of the slots 61-64 in the receiver. The mover may use an edge pusher, friction pad or other type of paper/card movement techniques and mechanisms to move the cards successively out of the card holder. At either end of travel of the mover, the mover engages or dis-engages with the card, for example, at the right side, of the motion as shown in FIG. 1, the mover moves up and into contact with the card. At the other end (left when referring to FIG. 1), the mover moves down to move away from the remaining cards. Therefore, during approximately 180 degrees of rotation of the wheel 9, the mover pushes the card into the receiver 6 and in the other half of the rotation of the wheel 9, the mover is returning back to the starting position while reader 4 is reading the value of the next card.

As the wheel rotates from the position shown in FIG. 1, the mover returns back to the starting position on the right side. During this motion, the cam 12 causes follower 13 to move upwards, and also causes the arm 14 to rotate counter clockwise. During the approximately 180 degrees of counter clockwise rotation from the position shown in FIG. 1, the value of the card is read by reader 4 and the appropriate stop 16, 17, 18, 19 is selected. The reader may be an electronic camera, bar-code reader or other scanning device/optical sensor. As one example, FIG. 5 shows a three of clubs having bar-codes 50 thereon that are unique to this card. In this embodiment, a bar-code reader would be used to scan the bar code and then the processor would determine the appropriate stop based on the destination for the pre-determined hand.

Stop 16 is shown as a fixed pin and stops 17-19 are activated by solenoids 160, 170, 180, 190. As wheel 9 rotates from the top position (FIG. 9) and towards the bottom position (shown in FIG. 1), the arm rotates clockwise around pivot 15, and depending on which stop is engaged, the arm stops and contact between follower 13 and cam 12 is lost. When the arm 12 stops in the selected position associated with the appropriate stop 16-19, the wheel 9 continues to rotate and thereby engage the mover 20A which moves the bottom card from the card holder 1 and into the appropriate slot 61-64 of the receiver 6. For example, see FIG. 10 where stop 190 is engaged and the card 51 moves into slot 64. As shown in FIG. 1, slot 61 aligns with the exit slit 5 when stop 16 is engaged. Stop 17 corresponds to slot 62, likewise 18 corresponds to 63 and 19 corresponds to 64. The slots 61-64 may be considered destinations of the card.

These slots or destinations are determined based on the pre-determined game hand(s) programmed in the processor. Typically, four pre-determined game hands will be selected for a game of bridge and as a deck is successively fed through the machine, the appropriate stop is engaged to arrest the fall of the arm 14 and the receiver 6.

The wheel 9 generally rotates at a constant angular velocity, and if not for the stops, the arm would move through a pattern generally in the shape of a sine wave (time on the x axis, angle on the y axis). When the stops are engaged, the bottoms of the sine wave would become flat for a period of time that depends on which stop is engaged. For example if stop 19 is selected, the flat portion of the sine wave would be relatively long when compared to that of stop 17, because stop 19 would cause more restriction on the downward movement of arm 14. Therefore, “oscillating” as used herein does not require that each revolution of the wheel results in identical movement of the arm, rather “oscillating” includes some variances in the arm movement as determined by the stops engaged and the card value read.

As each successive card is read and placed into the appropriate slot, the processor logs which cards were read in a memory. If a duplicate card is read, the machine signals this error, for example via a flashing light, a sound or a notification transmitted to an external device. In addition, the expected number of cards to be dealt would be the 52 cards in a standard deck. Once the card holder is empty and there is no bar code to read, a similar signal can be generated if the number of cards was different than 52.

The card dealing machine 100 includes a processor that communicates with the reader 4 and stops 16-19. This processor also communicates with an interface. For example, interface 112 could be found on the card dealing machine 100 and include a display and buttons or a touch-sensitive display to allow for user selection of various pre-determined hands. In addition, an interface 122 may be accessible via a mobile device or via an internet connected computer where the mobile device/computer communicates with the card dealing machine over a network, wireless or wired connection. In this case, the card dealing machine 100 may be connected to a computer 120, for example via USB (without using network 111). The computer 120 could also be a computer server that allows for web access to the interface 122 via network 111. The card dealing machine 100 may be capable of connecting to the internet or via Bluetooth or other wireless communication. It is also contemplated that the card dealing machine may include a port 115 to receive a data cable such as a LAN/Ethernet cable, coaxial, USB or other that allows the card dealing machine to connect to computers, mobile devices, or routers/modems. The interface 112 may also include software that executes on the processor 110.

The port 115 on the card dealing machine may also be configured to receive a memory device such as a USB stick having data indicative of one or more of the pre-determined hands stored thereon such that upon connection of the memory device to the port, the processor is programmed to deal at least one of the one or more of the pre-determined hands. The memory device may be contained in computer 120, or may be substituted for computer 120 in FIG. 11 (such as a simple USB stick or other memory that connects to the port 115. In one aspect, the interface 112 of the card dealing machine allows for selection of sets of pre-determined game hands which are selected from the data stored on the memory device (or the computer).

Referring to FIGS. 8-10, one series of movements of the wheel 9 and arm 14 are shown. In FIG. 8, the wheel 9 rotates counter clockwise 80, which causes the arm 14 to rotate counter clockwise 140 and mover 20A to move right 44 towards the position shown in FIG. 9. It is understood that the wheel could move clockwise and still impart similar movement of the arm 14 and mover 20A. During the left to right movement of the mover 20A, reader 10 identifies the bar code 50 and determines which stop 16-19 is to be engaged, typically by the time the position shown in FIG. 9 is reached. From the position in FIG. 9, the wheel continues to rotate and the arm 14 is arrested in its clockwise falling motion based on which stop was selected for the bar code 50 that was read by the reader 10. Therefore, the arm 14 oscillates between the position in FIG. 9 and any one of the positions associated with stops 16-19, depending on which card is at the bottom. As can be seen in FIG. 10, the card 51 is moved into slot 64. The follower 13 in FIG. 10 has lost contact with the cam 12. As the wheel 9 continues to rotate, the cam 12 will ultimately contact the follower 13 and move the arm 14 counter clockwise as the machine moves back towards the position shown in FIG. 9.

The card dealing machine may also be mounted in a tilted position with the card holder 1 above pivot 15, i.e. rotating the card dealing machine 100 counter clockwise from the view shown in FIG. 1. This may help the cards fall into the appropriate slot with additional aid from gravity.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular arrangement of parts, features and the like, these are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many other modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art. 

1. A card dealing machine for dealing a pre-determined game hand comprising: a reader configured to read a plurality of cards to determine a value thereof; an arm; a drive moving the arm in an oscillating motion; a receiver positioned on said arm and including at least a first destination; a mover configured to move a first one of the plurality of cards to said receiver; a stop mechanism in communication with said reader such that when the first one of the plurality of cards is associated with the pre-determined game hand corresponding to the first destination, said stop mechanism stops movement of the arm during the oscillating motion to align the first destination to receive the first one of the plurality of cards from said mover.
 2. The card dealing machine of claim 1 wherein said receiver includes a second, third and fourth destination and said stop mechanism includes a plurality of stops comprising a first, second, third and fourth stop respectively corresponding to the first, second, third and fourth destinations; one of the plurality of stops is selectively engaged for each oscillation of the oscillating motion based on a value read by said reader corresponding to a next one of the plurality of cards.
 3. The card dealing machine of claim 1 further comprising: a processor in communication with said reader and said stop mechanism, said processor transmitting a signal to said stop mechanism to engage at least one of a plurality of stops, the at least one of the plurality of stops associated with the first destination.
 4. The card dealing machine of claim 1 the stop mechanism includes at least one stop activated by a solenoid.
 5. The card dealing machine of claim 1 further comprising: a processor in communication with said reader and said stop mechanism; a fixed stop configured as one of a plurality of stops of said stop mechanism and said first destination associated with said fixed stop; wherein said processor selects said fixed stop based on the value of the first one of the plurality of cards being associated with the first destination.
 6. The card dealing machine of claim 1 further comprising: a processor in communication with said reader and said stop mechanism; a computer in communication with a storage and said processor, said storage having data indicative of the pre-determined game hand stored thereon; said processor receiving said data such that the card dealing machine is programmed to deal the pre-determined game hand associated with the data.
 7. The card dealing machine of claim 6 wherein said storage includes data indicative of a plurality of pre-determined game hands and said computer allows a user to select the pre-determined game hand from one of the plurality of pre-determined game hands.
 8. The card dealing machine of claim 1 further comprising: a drive having a cam coupled thereto, said drive rotating the cam; a follower connected to said arm, the follower contacting the cam such that rotation of the cam causes the oscillating motion.
 9. The card dealing machine of claim 8 wherein the stop causes the follower and the cam to lose contact during at least part of a rotation of the cam.
 10. A method of dealing a pre-determined set of four game hands comprising: (a) providing a deck of cards having a plurality of cards; (b) inserting the deck of cards into a holder of a card dealing machine; (c) activating the card dealing machine to successively read a value of the plurality cards using an optical reader; (d) stopping an oscillating arm of the card dealing machine at one of four locations based on the value read; (e) moving each of the plurality of cards with an oscillating mover into a receiver positioned on the oscillating arm, the receiver having four destinations such that a selected one of the four destinations corresponds to the one of four locations; (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) for each successively read one of the plurality of cards to place at least one of the plurality of cards in each of the four destinations.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said repeating step (f) is done until each one of the plurality of cards is placed at one of the four destinations such that each destination contains an equal number of cards.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the four destinations are each separate slots on the receiver.
 13. The method of claim 10 wherein the receiver is removable from the oscillating arm.
 14. The method of claim 10 further comprising: stopping said repeating step if a value read is the same value as a previously red value and generating an alert indicative of a duplicate card having been red.
 15. The method of claim 10 further comprising: generating an alert the plurality of cards total more or fewer than
 52. 16. The method of claim 10 further comprising: said card dealing machine receiving a data indicative of the pre-determined set of four game hands; and programming a processor of said card dealing machine with said data such that the four game hands are respectively dealt in to the four destinations of the receiver.
 17. A card dealing machine for dealing a set of four pre-determined game hands comprising: a holder configured to receive a deck of cards including a plurality of cards; a receiver including four destinations each one of the four destinations associated with one of the four pre-determined game hands; a mover configured to successively move one of the plurality of cards from the holder and into the receiver; a reader positioned to successively read the plurality of cards to determine a value thereof; an arm with said receiver positioned thereon; a drive having a rotating component, the drive moving the arm in an oscillating motion; a processor in communication with said reader and a stop mechanism, the processor programmed to select one of four stops of said stop mechanism based on the value of each successively read one of the plurality of cards with each rotation of the rotating component;
 18. The machine of claim 17 wherein, for each rotation of the rotating component, the selected one of the four stops halts movement of said arm to receive one of the plurality of cards in one of the four destinations based on which one of the four pre-determined game hands the one of the plurality of cards is associated with.
 19. The machine of claim 17 wherein at least one of the four stops is activated by a solenoid.
 20. The machine of claim 17 wherein one of the four stops is a fixed stop and three of the four stops are activated by solenoids such that when the fixed stop is selected, the solenoids are inactive.
 21. The machine of claim 17 further comprising: a slit in said holder configured to receive one of the plurality of cards there through when moved by the mover to allow the one of the plurality of cards to exit the holder and be received by said receiver.
 22. The machine of claim 17 wherein the mover and the reader are configured to reciprocate together as one to read a stationary one of the plurality of cards while moving in one direction and move the one of the plurality of cards out of the holder and into the receiver while moving in an opposite direction. 